Tag Archives: Emerald Downs

Yep, we rolled into Washington on May 17th last year. Very hard to believe that a year has already passed since our adventure on the road ended. We reminisce often about places we have been, people we met and all of the memories that filled our amazing two-year journey.

May has been an awesome month. It started with a birthday celebration for me on Cinco de Mayo. Had a great dinner out at one of my faves, Purple Café in Bellevue with Mike, my brother and Mom. It has been a long time since we have celebrated as a family, so that really meant a lot to me! We followed that up with Mother’s Day at Emerald Downs. Not quite the Kentucky Derby, but a fun day at the track and again time spent together with family celebrating Mom!

Jeff, Mom, Mike & I at Purple Cafe

On May 10, we flew to Zihuatanejo, Mexico for a week with our good friends, Bruce & Vickie. They invited us to their timeshare at Club Intrawest, and what a spectacular place! It was pretty toasty and humid, but oh so relaxing. A lot of time was spent in the pool just chillaxing. The boys had a banner day of fishing and caught a 9-foot marlin and 7-foot sailfish. The captain claimed the fish as his own to sell at the fish market, but did give them a few pounds, which they prepared multiple ways over the course of a few days. We walked on the beach, did a mescal tasting (grody), swam with the dolphins, met some great people, ate good food and basically just enjoyed a week of doing a whole lot of nothing. As usual, a week went by way too fast, but what a great week it was!

The Big Catch! Bruce, new friend John and Mike

Mike and his new amigos

Bruce & Vickie at our ocean villa

Dinner on the beach. Nothing better than toes in the sand!

Great view from dinner – Bruce & Mike

Private Beach at our Ocean Villa

The night before we left on vacation, we found out that we got a house to rent that we were really excited about. It is in Newport Hills in Bellevue, close to where our old house used to be. We move in July 2 and can’t wait. We are ready to leave townhouse living and have a house with a bit more space. Beyond excited!

Mike’s job at Bath Planet is going well and drum roll please…I start a new job on June 1. It has been a long 4 months of job search, so I am ready to get back in the world of employment. I will be an account manager for Virtuoso – looking forward to being back in the travel industry!

This past weekend, we celebrated my cousin Chris and his upcoming wedding in Fiji. There was a sendoff party in Woodinville on Saturday, then we spent the day at my Aunt & Uncle’s house in Poulsbo on Sunday. My dad and his wife Jane flew up from Tucson.

Dad, Jane, me, Jeff & Mike

Mike & I with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Steve – amazing view from their house

We are heading over to Wenatchee for Memorial Day Weekend to be with our great friends, Marc & Shelly. They are the ones who lost their home in the wildfire last year and they have rebuilt and moved in last week. It is unbelievable that they are back in their home less than a year from this tragic event. This is the best news! May 30 is our 17-year anniversary, so cheers to us 🙂 . Looking forward to a great summer ahead. We are finally starting to feel like “re-entry” is over and we are back in the groove!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain